Midlothian Heritage clobbers Cleburne behind over 400 yards of offense, 4 Rutenbar TDs

Travis M. Smith September 2, 2023 Football, Midlothian Heritage High School 1,663 Views

By Travis M. Smith | Ellis County Sports

MIDLOTHIAN — The only force to stop the Midlothian Heritage offense Friday night was the game clock. Had it not’ve hit triple zeros, the Jaguars might still be adding to their 63-7 lead against Cleburne at Midlothian ISD Multipurpose Stadium.

Midlothian Heritage needed just 24 plays to score 42 points on 318 yards — in the first half. The Jaguars led 42-7 at the half.

Junior quarterback Carter Rutenbar followed up his stellar week 1 performance by completing 9-of-his-11 passes for 240 yards and 4 touchdowns over the game’s first two quarters.

Stetson Sarratt pulled in three of those passes for 143 yards and 2 first-half touchdowns. Jayce McCoy (2-47) and Ryan Satterwhite (2-14) caught the other two Rutenbar touchdown passes before the half.

Rutenbar did not attempt a pass in the second half, as second-year head coach Eric Edwards used the time to gain valuable work for the entire Jaguar roster.

Rutenbar has completed 26-of-his-40 passes (65.0%) for 494 yards and 7 touchdowns over the season’s first two weeks. Sarratt leads all Jaguar receivers with 186 yards and 3 touchdowns on just five catches (37.2 YPC).

Midlothian Heritage outgained Cleburne 318 total yards to 167 in the first half and 438-267 for the game. Jaguar backup quarterback Bradley Waxler recorded his first varsity touchdown pass when he connected with Jayce McCoy (2-47) for a 34-yard touchdown with 2:23 to play in the third quarter.

The Waxler-to-McCoy connection put the Jaguars up 56-7. Senior defensive back Michael Huggins capped the scoring when he returned an interception 48 yards to paydirt with 5:55 showing on the fourth-quarter clock.

The pick-6 was the second defensive touchdown for the Jaguars on the evening. Colby Pustejovsky returned a fumble 63 yards last in the second quarter.

Cleburne quarterback Luke Stewart (6-13, 157yds) connected with Christopher Kensley (2-97) for 75 for the lone Yellowjacket touchdown. The pitch-and-catch came with 3:08 to play in the first half and cut the Jaguar lead to 35-7.

UP NEXT

Midlothian Heritage will travel to Waco La Vega for the Jaguars’ final pre-district tune-up.

The Bulldogs defeated Kennedale 35-28 in week one but fell to Waco Connally 48-40 on Friday.

Waco La Vega leads the all-time series 3-2, winning 40-28 in 2021, 54-14 in 2019 and 45-18 in 2018. Midlothian Heritage won 41-14 in 2022 and 31-21 in 2020.

Kickoff between the Jaguars and Pirates at Willie Williams Stadium (formerly Pirate Stadium) in Bellmead is at 7:30 p.m. Friday.